G.O. Ministries' video of our church trip

For a photo montage and a couple of short videos all set to a great worship song, use the URL below! You'll see each member of our mission team at least twice. You'll see me serving lunch to the children and then again rooting for some jump ropers (in my cowboy hat) while holding an adorable little girl. Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/13688215

Children's Ministry VBS

Saturday afternoon was KID TIME! We gathered in the park in Batey Nueve. Now think for a minute what image came to mind when you read park. I was just out running this morning and passed by a park less than a mile from my home. It has been under construction for many months. It was a lovely park before the construction began. When this project is finished, this park is going to be a showplace! Surrounded by lovely green iron fencing with a large center fountain surrounded by benches and boasting a fabulous playground for the neighborhood kids, this park will be a gathering place for families from blocks away.

The park that you see in the photos here boasts a central thatched roof, cement floored gazebo type structure with dirt walkways leading to it and a few simple benches. The thatching was partially blown off and ruined a few years back during a hurricane. It still awaits repair.

I noticed a couple of young girls with makeshift brooms sweeping off a couple of the walkways when we began arriving in shifts for the afternoon of fun. Those kids knew what was coming and they were preparing!

After having seen the children in all manner of dress the previous days, including some children in only underwear or no clothing at all, it was very sweet to see them arriving in what looked to be their Sunday best. The boys in clean shirts and shorts and many girls in pretty dresses.

Lots of kids and some adults were hanging around, sitting on the cement, kind of looking at us gathering, when suddenly one young man went to the middle of the cement floor and did an amazing handstand! He stayed up for 30 seconds at least! We all clapped. He did a couple more. And that's when I thought we had to reciprocate! So I went into the middle, tucked in my shirt, pulled my straw cowboy hat on tightly, and did a handstand that lasted, well, maybe 5 seconds! So it was back and forth a time or two, then I decided a cartwheel was going to make me look much better, so I did one or two of those. Then into the performance ring came Hope. She did a couple of walkovers! It was quite the impromptu show!

Several of our mission team had been planning the VBS afternoon since before we even left the U.S. and they did a great job! They had learned several songs in Spanish and acted out some fun Bible themed teaching skits that had everyone laughing. Everyone participated in the fun and then it was activity time. As you can see there was some good rope jumping going on. Some hand clapping games were played here and there. Just good, active fun!

Then came coloring time. I loved sitting next to a small group of young boys, probably 8 years old or so, who were so very intent on making their Bible coloring book pictures look perfect. One young man had the picture upside down but his coloring was impeccable. They were so studious they almost never looked up at all the movement around them until their pictures were done.

That was our afternoon with the kids! I believe they had a great time, and I know we did!

Three Days to Contribute

Three days to do our work. I wish it were more, there's not doubt. I would have liked to have been able to do 5-6 days, but the logistics of travel would not allow that unless it became a 10 day trip.

But realizing the positive impact only three days had is what the focus needs to be. And here I need to quote one of our leaders, Mark, in an email he sent the team after we arrived home. His list of blessings sums it all up! And this is just some of the 22 blessings he shared with us.


~ Fifty-seven people were able to take time away from their families and normal routine to serve God’s Kingdom in a very special way; the largest group from CCCH ever and included 27 first-timers!

~We delivered about 100 packages to the kids from their CCCH GO Kids Sponsors.

~Fred and his assistants treated 71 patients in the Dental Clinic and pulled 83 teeth.

~In addition to the many prayers offered to people we saw in the Medical/Dental Clinics, several went into the village to evangelize with very interesting discussions about Christianity, Batey culture and the church.

~We completely built an 80-foot long, 4-foot high wall and moved mucho blocks, rocks, dirt, cement, and mortar.

~Through funds provided by CCCH, we served about 85 children their lunch that they now receive every day.

~We were able to teach and share with about 125 kids in a VBS-style of children’s ministry.


~ The almost 1-1/2 tons of donated medicines and clothing.

Besides all these tangible blessings, there were the more subtle things happening throughout our week, especially during the teamwork of Thursday, Friday and Saturday of that week.

Young and not-so-young worked together on both the construction teams and the medical teams. The youngest team member, to my knowledge, was a twelve year old girl, Hope. Her parents can proudly say she was a trouper! She, and all the younger adults were so impressive. Their work ethic and their behavior towards each other and the children of Batey Nueve was a sight to behold. They truly displayed what it means to show people Jesus through actions.

New friendships were made amongst the team members all throughout the week. I personally enjoyed connecting with several of the women who I may have never gotten to know had I not done this trip. Getting four or five hugs and several 'hello's' at church last Sunday was a welcome feeling of belonging that this trip brought about.

But since a lot of folks have asked, 'So what did you do, exactly?'... let me explain!

Construction and Medical were our two major focuses. We are constructing a new two story building to house a first level feeding center and second level worship center.

We had one dentist, a nurse practitioner, a doctor, along with a D.R. national doctor, and a nurse from G.O. Ministries. Everyone else in the clinic was a helper who asked a lot of questions before doing anything for anyone. The leaders were wonderfully patient with us and all went so smoothly for the most part.

Basically each day we were able to choose where we worked, which was wonderful. Some knew that construction would be a bit taxing for them and that meant they had the clinic to help in. Or some were able to do a little of both, which was my choice.

Thursday was my day to be a construction worker and it was fun! It was a hot day with a strong wind and white puffy clouds. Fabulous day to be outdoors working hard. Cement had to be hand mixed with shovels -- right on the floor of the future feeding center! Then buckets had to be carried to the two men who were building a wall up the future stairway, and to the front of the building where another surrounding wall was being built.

I was 'hand picked' by Luis, the funny leader of the construction crew. He's quite the clown, speaks more English than I can speak Spanish, but still struggles a bit. He stood in front of me and pointed at me and said, 'YOU are special helper!' wiggling his index finger for me to follow him. He put me on the landing to the second floor and pointed to my 'boss', Martolo. I was Martolo's assistant for the rest of the day, carrying buckets of mortar or cinder blocks up a very steep, bumpy cement ramp whenever he needed them, handing him his level or hammer, finding broken pieces of blocks for the uneven areas he needed to fill in making a wall around the landing. He and I had some fun trying to understand each other, playing some charades, teaching each other some of our words for the objects we were using.

My back never hurt after that day's work...just my left ankle from all the ramp walking. But it was a good day of work!

The next two days I chose to work in the clinic, feeling the desire to have more contact with the people of the village. I worked with several other women in the pharmacy. By that I mean we worked in the school room where we set baggies of medicines all over several tables and waited for the people to arrive after having seen the doctors in the other classroom. Kids and some adults were using chairs to peek into the windows at us. I actually did the same thing to get a good peek into the dental room! While on the chair peeking in I had one young girl point to my ankle bracelet and motion that she'd like me to give it to her. I wish I could have, but we were told we could not do that or we'd be inundated with children asking for everything we owned.

Each person who saw a doctor was given a brown paper lunch sack where the doctor wrote their name, age, symptoms and medicines prescribed. They brought the bags to us where we would fill them and hand them to a Spanish speaking national to explain the medicine use. Every age from young to old were seen those three days, with the oldest we know of being a woman who was 103 years old!

We were handing out lots of cough drops, mostly because our nurse felt that they would need them sooner or later and we had an overabundance. Well, sure enough, the second day we had youngsters at the door holding up empty cough drop wrappers, hoping we could give them more. They were eating them like candy! Well, I guess it wouldn't be the first time a child has done that, but it was a bit of a frustration, no doubt.

We had some Haitians coming in which caused a bit of a translation issue for the woman explaining the prescriptions. A young boy who seemed to just be hanging around (and who I was trying to shoo out the door because he was taking up a seat that some older folks could use!) ended up being someone who was able to translate some of the Creole spoken by the Haitians. He seemed to feel very proud of his work in helping us and we really appreciated his help.

All in all, the clinic went well. Especially day two, which started with a downpour in the morning. As I mentioned earlier, the folks in the D.R. do not like rain, so we worried for the success of the clinic that day. We opened a bit late and saw plenty of people by day's end. I do not know what happens there on a regular basis to meet the medical needs of the villagers. That is something I still want to ask about. But we were able to help in some way, at least, and we felt that it was appreciated by the people of Batey Nueve.

People of the Batey

As we were given the tour of Batey Nueve, Village #9, and as we helped feed the children at lunchtime, I had to wonder what they felt about all of us 'Americanos' looking at their neighborhood, their homes, their children, and taking pictures. I probably would have taken more photos than I did if I hadn't felt a little uncomfortable with it.

The kids didn't think twice...they wanted to be photographed and then they wanted to see their photo on our digital camera screen! For some reason, many of them wanted to suck their thumbs for the photo! Maybe that's their way of being silly, I don't know. They would have posed for hours in front of the batey store if we had let them!

But the adults...were we making them feel like they were a spectacle for us to photograph? Did they feel like we were in shock or disbelief at what we saw on their streets, in their yards?

Think about standing in your doorway with your child and having a group of people come walking by snapping pictures of you. What would you feel like? I'm guessing I'd feel uncomfortable...and I hoped our group was not making anyone feel that way.

A Whole New World

Before my trip I read about the Dominican Republic in a travel magazine given to me by my friend, Anne. It sounded exotic, tropical, beautiful. The article was obviously meant to highlight the best of the country that resort vacationers would enjoy. The scenes you see above are a closer look at what the nationals experience on a day-to-day basis. It's not always pretty, but they sure seemed like happy people.

Some observations...

In the city, businesses and homes seemed to be intermixed haphazardly. There were many small food 'huts' in the city where street food was available. Views of half finished buildings seemed common. Right across the street from where we ate our first night's dinner was one of these incomplete, abandoned buildings. John Martinez explained that Haitian squatters were living there. Mini vans seemed to take the place of our city transportation buses. A driver sat at a roadside, honking his horn now and then as people slowly filled the van. It drove off with the last person standing at the open sliding door. Rules of the Road? I don't think they've read that pamphlet! No fear of moving vehicles in this country! Side saddle riding by passengers on motor bikes...families of four on one motorcycle...riding between lanes of cars...I saw it all and was astounded!

Roadside stands and sales people where everywhere, even out in the country. As soon as we stopped, our bus was open territory for nationals to hold up glass jars of nuts, plates of fruit, bags of baked goods, whatever they were selling. I found it amusing to see along one stretch of the highway at least 6-7 roadside stands just feet apart, all selling exactly the same items - carved wooden mortar and pestles. Some were about the size of a round end table! Were all these stands owned by the same person or different people? How did they compete for sales?

I think the entire trip I only witnessed two people smoking a cigarette. I was amazed. I hear that cigars are more common there, but I never saw one!

I enjoyed watching the city and country life on our long bus rides, but wish I could have gotten out now and then for some wonderful picture taking opportunities. The tropical looking mountains, very ridged, but covered in lush green, were breathtaking. A photo would have looked about as good through the bus window as my shot of the motor bike packed with bags...see the bug splats on the windshield of the bus?

This is all a perfect example of why I feel traveling to other countries is such an important life experience. We get so comfortable, so dulled in our awareness levels when we see the same style of life day after day, year after year. Witnessing an entirely new and very different culture wakes us up and gives us insights, new appreciation and more compassion for and understanding of people. We could all use a little of that!

So, my friends...TAKE A TRIP! Enjoy the world. And thank God for the wonderful opportunity to explore and learn.

Batey Nueve Here We Come...Slowly!

Feeling rested, perky, full of vim and vigor after a few hours of sleep, our team was up and eating scrambled eggs and hot dog buns with jelly and/or peanut butter at 4:15 a.m. Oh...and hot coffee!

The Wednesday note from my sister Janice held these words...
Isaiah 6:8...
I heard the voice of the Lord saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."

He sent me...and it would prove to be quite a ride!

After disassembling our beds and packing up our bags, the loading of the bags and the team took place with smooth efficiency. A series of van rides to haul us all to where our large bus was parked saved us from retracing our steps of the previous night. Breakfast got shaken up in our bellies, but we were all thankful for the lift! Todd and I smugly mentioned how great it was that it was six o'clock a.m. and we were already heading out.

Lesson of the day...don't count your chickens before they're hatched! Not too many miles into the six hour trip the bus had gas pedal sticking issues. Over to the roadside we went, with many of us exiting the bus and watching the traffic go by. 45 minutes later a replacement bus showed up. Not bad! Our patience was amazing.

I was soaking up a lesson on this first day of D.R. travel. It feels really good to let go of control!

If you know me well, you probably know I like to be in charge, like any good Montgomery woman does. And the more I talk to other women, the more I realize that's just women! We always know what's best for everyone around us and how things should work for everyone's benefit and enjoyment, right, ladies?

Well, sitting toward the front of the huge buses and watching as our driver swerved around motor bikes, honked at other vehicles to move over so he could pass, tailgated within an inch of a pickup truck's bumper (with three children sitting in the bed of the truck - at night!), and yes, breaking down and waiting for a rescue...all of these things would have me bracing my foot on the dashboard or asking the driver (usually my husband) to please back off from the car ahead, and getting upset because plans were getting messed up.

Somehow in the D.R., I was just an observer who was okay with whatever was happening. I didn't need to be anywhere at a certain time...it wasn't my schedule. I, for some strange reason, trusted the maniacal driver's skills, figuring he's been living here and driving like this his whole adult life, right?

And this lesson is one I planned to take home...my husband will be so pleased!

Back to the action...

A few more hours of driving, soaking up the sights, most of which were rather distressing. The biggest difficulty I had was accepting the amount of garbage I saw along the roads, sidewalks, near homes and businesses. Being a nature lover and outdoor person who works hard to clean up any garbage I find, it was one of the biggest challenges of the trip for me to see the pollution.

After a stop for lunch at a large open-air restaurant called Pollo Rey (Chicken Rey), we were back on the road until another pull-over that had us stumped. Some discussion amongst the leaders, then the announcement that we were headed slightly off course to go to a pharmacy. The Dominican doctor that was with us was just alerted to the fact that a patient of his had spinal meningitis. He was with that patient the day before. We needed to find out if our entire team would need preventative medication. All turned out well...we would be 'third party' exposure and only would need meds if the doctor showed signs of illness. He was fine, thankfully, by the way!

Somewhere around 4:00 p.m. (not sure...time lost it's importance now and then) we arrived at the Batey. Met Pastor William, a man who grew up in another Batey, was not always a Christian...actually followed the teachings of the area Witch Doctor at one point in his life! His home was the host house where all our meals were cooked, situated right below the women's dorm. He is a lovely, smiling man who is welcoming to all. Our church supports him financially and spiritually from way up north in Clarendon Hills! What a wonderful connection.

Besides settling into the dorms before dinner, there was a job to be done! 57 bags of medical supplies sat in the chapel awaiting our sorting help. Lots of yelling, questioning, tossing of bags and containers, putting as many of the same meds together as possible. Then pill counting into zip-lock baggies, usually thirty per bag, for ease of distributing in the clinic pharmacy.

7 p.m. / 7:20 p.m. were to be our dinner shifts for the most part. The area we ate was not large enough for our entire group. The food was always fresh and hot, the water always bottled, poured into a large Gatorade jug cooler, with ice!

I ended up in a level two bunk (three levels in all) with a new battery operated fan that decided it would not work for me. Finally somewhere after midnight I had a brainstorm. Got a washcloth out of my bag, soaked it with the coolest water I could get, and kept moving it to different parts of my body in order to cool myself down. It definitely helped.

I think I'm exhausted just detailing Wednesday...until my next installment, happy reading!

Fruits of the Spirit

A fun surprise was awaiting when Don and our daughter Nella drove me to our church parking lot at 2:45 a.m. My sister Janice and two of her kids, Michelle & Joe, were there to see me off! They stayed through all the loading of over 100 50# bags onto buses, Don and Joey helping with that muscle work. They stayed for our circle of prayer time. They stayed as we drove out of the lot, doing 'The Wave' to bless us on our way. Jan presented me with a package of envelopes. I was to open one on the way and then one each morning. Each held a Bible verse and then encouraging words. A very thoughtful gift from one of my prayer partners!

Two uneventful flights later we landed in rainy Santiago. Hearing predictions of a rainy week to come didn't sit well with the group. John Martinez of G.O. was there to welcome us. A very nice 30 something man from Long Island who has lived and worked as a missionary in the D.R. for eight years now. He told us that as he prayed to prepare himself for our week that God had placed the Galatians verses about The Fruits of the Spirit on his heart. That's what we were all to be focusing on...and the first Fruit would begin then and there as we loaded bags and began our journey...PATIENCE.

The evening started with a lovely welcome in the home of Gabrielle, a gentleman involved with G.O. Ministries. His family hosted our group of almost 60 people, all with wet shoes, allowing us to invade his home and eat his food. Heart warming hospitality! Chicken and rice were the main dishes, and during the week we found out these would be our staples for the most part.

As most of the team continued visiting there, about 15-20 of us were bussed to another location to meet our sponsored G.O. Kid. I had my envelope of gifts for Yonaris, hoping her family was able to be there on this nasty, rainy night.

We were told that the Dominicans do not like the rain. If it's raining, they do not go out. So between that and the fact that our travels got us there late, there was a slim chance.

But as I came up the stairs I saw a little girl sitting on a woman's lap, their backs to me. But the girl's profile was visible. It was Yonaris! And she was lovely. Such a beautiful face!

I was able to enlist the help of a translator to have a conversation with Jasmine, her mother. We learned things about each other, finding out our husbands are both 'laid back', hers is a mechanic, mine sells tools to mechanics...Yonaris is very intelligent and loves to color and read books, exactly how my little girl was as a child...Jasmine was working until she had Yonaris, as a secretary, exactly what I did before having Seth. We had a lot of parallels in our lives as Jasmine said through the translator. Yonaris was shy but smiled a lot as she opened her gifts. She loved the Dora The Explorer book I bought her. Jasmine said she only wants to watch Dora on TV and then pointed to the little buckles on her daughter's shoes - the face of Dora! I guess I picked the right book! Jasmine thanked me for my generosity and said they have an extra room in their home where I am always welcome to stay if I want to visit them. I was very touched and so happy that I was able to connect with our sponsored child.

Then came the end of a long day and the beginning of what will go down in history as the worst walk of my life! Because of all the rain our large bus was not able to travel the last part of the trip to our dorm. So we were dropped at a corner and asked to carry our backpacks about a half mile, staying in groups for safety.

It was dark, luckily not raining, but the muddy, potholed, rocky road was extremely difficult to navigate. I honestly don't know how I never slipped and fell in the mud! It was a slow, careful, uncomfortable walk that seemed to never end. And all the way down the road were people watching us from their doorways, from chairs in front of homes, from groups of motor bikes on corners. We must have been quite a sight!

Arrived in our first dormitory where bunks were stacked three high and set up our mosquito netting on our bed of choice. 33 women sharing one sleeping room, three or four showers, three toilets and three or four sinks...hmmm...recipe for disaster? Fruits...Fruits!

It was a bad night's sleep. No air movement on my bottom bunk. After 12:30 a.m. lights out, it took me over an hour to fall into a restless sleep...and wake up call was at 4:30 a.m.!

Welcome to the world of mission work, Donna! And don't forget your Fruits!